Holiday traffic in area kills four

Four people were killed in North Central Florida over the extended Thanksgiving weekend, but police said the roads were safer this year than last year.

Three accidents killed four people this long holiday weekend in Troop B, which is composed of Alachua, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Marion and Suwannee counties. On the 2006 weekend at least five people died in accidents in the same region.

"Four is still too many,"said Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Mike Burroughs. "We've had safer holiday travel in Troop B compared to last year, and we attribute that to drivers heeding warnings to travel late or travel early to avoid that deadly traffic."

Robert Weed, 48, of Ocala was killed in a single-car accident at 8 p.m. Saturday on NW 95 Avenue Road just a half mile south of U.S. 27 in Marion County. According to Florida Highway Patrol, Weed lost control after overcorrection and rolled a 1999 Chevy Silverado.

Another single-car accident Saturday in Marion County left Wilian Lopez-Morales, 24, of Ocala, dead. The accident occurred at 3 a.m. on State Route 40 and SW 85th Avenue when the 1998 Dodge pickup lost control and ran off the road striking a tree and fence. The driver, Diego Lopez-Morales, 24, was airlifted to Shands at the University of Florida.

The other fatalities occurred Thursday when a mother and her 1-year-old daughter were killed in Dixie County when their car collided with an oncoming emergency services vehicle.

On Sunday traffic on Interstate 75 was slowed to about 20 mph at 1 p.m. when a semi-truck driver misjudged the height of his truck and became lodged underneath the I-75 overpass on Newberry Road.

According to the Gainesville Police Department, the bridge suffered no structural damage, and the truck was dislodged after air was released from the tires.

The peak in travel came at 3 p.m. Saturday when the average traffic count was 3,700 vehicles an hour, Burroughs said.

The peak on Sunday was also at 3 p.m. with about 3,300 vehicles an hour. At both peaks, traffic maintained at least a 75 mph average.

The average speed of traffic on I-75 at 6 p.m. Sunday was between 74 mph and 78 mph, depending on travel direction, he said.